East Side Mario’s shutters doors at Mic Mac location
Posted Jan 2, 2013 05:44:42 PM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
There is no longer an East Side Mario’s location in Mic Mac Mall in Dartmouth. The restaurant shut down suddenly Tuesday night, without giving notice to current employees or mall management.
The closure follows a number of other restaurant closures in HRM, including Applebee’s in Clayton Park and a Wendy’s location in Bedford.
Executive Director of the Restauarant Association of Nova Scotia, Gordon Stewart, says there could be a couple of reasons for the closures.
“One is without question, the economics of the restaurant industry is tough today,” he says. “It’s probably the toughest it’s been in decades.”
Stewart also indicates there are differences in cost between running a franchise chain and a stand-alone business. “The good side is that they are easier turn-key operations to start up, but there are a lot more costs that are attached to them. Costs that you can’t get out of like advertising costs and licensing costs.”
Former East Side Mario’s server Jill Keefe says she was enjoying her New Years Day off when she found out about the closure.
“I came home and logged onto my computer just to check a few things, and my contacts had exploded with people from work, saying that the restaurant had shut down and that we all were not coming back to jobs for the new year,” says Keefe.
She says one Manager received a call the day it happened, and spread the news to others.
She adds that everything seemed business as usual and there were no clear signs of a closure.
“I even worked New Years Eve, I left the restaurant at 9:30pm and there was even no sign then,” says Keefe.
A notice of abandonment has been posted on the front door of the location by mall management indicating employees need to surrender any keys they may have.
